The Schwyz-Stoos railwaywas opened to the public at a ceremony in December. Covering a distance of 1,700 metres from the Schlatti lift station in the canton of Schwyz to the ski area of the Stoos mountain station, it can overcome a slope gradient of 110 per cent. The high-tech railway is not only used to transport tourists – it also looks after the basic provisions of the entire infrastructure for Stoos and the car-free village with its 150 inhabitants.
The drum-shaped passenger cabins are designed in such a way that they constantly compensate for the changing inclination. This allows the cabins to always remain horizontal despite the extremely steep slope.
The new funicular railway is powered by electric engines from the technology group ABB with roots in the canton of Aarau. “The railway requires an exceptionally high amount of energy to start up because the route at both the lift station and the upper station ascend at the beginning,” explained Ueli Spinner, head of Corporate Customer Sales and Service at ABB.
The funicular railway travels at a speed of 10 metres per second and can carry up to 1,500 passengers per hour in both directions. Each trips lasts up to five minutes.
“In comparison with the old railway, this means a doubling of speed and transport capacity,” added Spinner.
